Method for authenticating an electronic signature

ABSTRACT

A method for determining whether a disputed electronic signature is that of a purported signator includes the steps of (a) creating in a single step an ink on paper signature and an identical electronic signature of the purported signator; (b) verifying that the ink on paper signature is consistent with known ink on paper signatures of the purported signator; and (c) comparing the disputed electronic signature with the electronic signature of the purported signature to determine whether the disputed electronic signature is that of the purported signator.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to methods for authenticating signatures and, more specifically, to methods for authenticating electronic signatures.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Electronic (digitized) signatures are becoming increasingly common in the execution of contracts, the payment for commercial transactions, and in many other aspects of commerce. A necessary component for the utility and acceptance of electronic signatures is the ability to authenticate such signatures. Many such authentication procedures have been proposed, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,307,955, the entirety of which is incorporated by this reference.

All known prior art authentication methods, however, required the existence of an established reference signature in electronic form. There are many circumstances, however, where such established reference signatures in electronic form is not available and is no longer obtainable. Accordingly, there is a need for a method for verifying an electronic signature where a verified signature may not be available.

SUMMARY

The invention satisfies this need. The invention is a method for determining whether a disputed electronic signature is that of a purported signator. The method comprises the steps of (a) creating in a single step an ink on paper signature and an identical electronic signature of the purported signator; (b) verifying that the ink on paper signature is consistent with known ink on paper signatures of the purported signator; and (c) comparing the disputed electronic signature with the electronic signature of the purported signature to determine whether the disputed electronic signature is that of the purported signator.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following discussion describes in detail one embodiment of the invention and several variations of that embodiment. This discussion should not be construed, however, as limiting the invention to those particular embodiments. Practitioners skilled in the art will recognize numerous other embodiments as well.

The invention is a method for determining whether a disputed electronic signature is that of a purported signator. The method comprises the steps of (a) creating in a single step an ink on paper signature and an identical electronic signature of the purported signator; (b) verifying that the ink on paper signature is consistent with known ink on paper signatures of the purported signator; and (c) comparing the disputed electronic signature with the electronic signature of the purported signature to determine whether the disputed electronic signature is that of the purported signator.

The creation of an ink-on-paper signature and an identical electronic signature of the purported signator can be accomplished in many ways. In one way, a piece of ordinary paper is placed over a touch sensitive pad connected to a computer. The signator signs his or her name with an ordinary ink pen writing on the paper. An electronic signature is simultaneously obtained via the pressure of the ink pen against the touch sensitive pad. Another way of creating an ink-on-paper signature and an identical electronic signature is with an electronic pen having a built-in ink cartridge. A piece of ordinary paper is placed onto an active area of an electronic pen tablet. Software within the computer is adapted to capture the signature data from the tablet while the ink cartridge within the electronic pen yields an ink-on-paper signature.

The electronic signature can also be obtained with an electronic pen which reads microscopic coordinates on paper or one that senses position without the need of a corresponding tablet, such as by using infrared sensors or other kind of pen tip sensing.

In one example of the invention, the method of the invention is used to determine whether a disputed signature is that of an alleged signator. The creation of an ink-on-paper signature and an identical electronic signature is carried out in the presence of a neutral third party, such as a mediator in a mediation proceeding, a court reporter in a pre-trial discovery proceeding or a judge in a litigation proceeding. The ink-on-paper signature is then compared to known ink-on-paper signatures of the alleged signator by a handwriting specialist using known handwriting forensic techniques. Once the ink-on-paper signature is confirmed to be consistent with known ink-on-paper signatures of the alleged signator, the disputed electronic signature is compared with the electronic signature prepared in step (a) by known comparison techniques to determine whether the disputed electronic signature is that of the alleged signator.

The method of the invention has the additional advantage in this situation that, if the alleged signator attempts to disguise his or her signature during the creation of the ink-on-paper signature and an identical electronic signature in step (a), this fact will be determined in step (b) when the ink-on-paper signature prepared in step (a) is found to be inconsistent with known ink-on-paper signatures of the alleged signator.

In another example of the invention, the signer of an electronic signature in a commercial transaction or in the execution of a legal document, such as a will. The signator is asked at the time of execution to prepare, in a separate step, an ink-on-paper signature and an identical electronic signature in step (a). Both the ink-on-paper signature and the identical electronic signature prepared in step (a) are retained in a file. Thereafter, when and if the authenticity of the electronic signature on the commercial transaction or legal document is questioned, the ink-on-paper and the identical electronic signature prepared in step (a) is extracted from the file. The ink-on-paper signature is compared to known ink-on-paper signatures to verify that the ink-on-paper is that of the purported signator.

Having thus described the invention, it should be apparent that numerous structural modifications and adaptations may be resorted to without departing from the scope and fair meaning of the instant invention as set forth hereinabove and as described hereinbelow by the claims. 

1. A method for determining whether a disputed electronic signature is that of a purported signator, the method comprising the steps of: (a) creating in a single step an ink on paper signature and an identical electronic signature of the purported signator; (b) verifying that the ink on paper signature is consistent with known ink on paper signatures of the purported signator; and (c) comparing the disputed electronic signature with the electronic signature of the purported signature to determine whether the disputed electronic signature is that of the purported signator.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the creation of an ink on paper signature and an identical electronic signature in step (a) is accomplished by having the purported signator write his or her signature with an inking tip digitized pen or with an inking tip stylus on a sheet of paper which has been placed over a digitizing tablet. 